Commercial livestock operations, such as poultry operations, are known and may include, for example, relatively large buildings that house foul, such as turkeys and chickens, until these reach a desired weight. In these operations, the buildings must be heated to maintain the temperature within a desirable range, and the litter (or droppings) produced by the birds must be removed from the buildings. In conventional commercial poultry operations, heaters are used to provide heat to the buildings housing the birds, with known heaters being fueled by propane or natural gas, for example. The cost to operate these types of heaters, however, is increasingly more expensive due to high fuel costs. Since the profitability of a poultry operation is directly related to the costs associated with the buildings' operating costs, the profitability of the poultry operation decreases with rising heating costs unless the revenue received by the poultry operator (e.g., farmer) also increases. This may translate into higher prices for the consumer.
Removal of litter (or droppings) from the large buildings housing the birds may include placing clean litter on the floor of a poultry house before the birds are delivered. Known litter materials include organic materials such as sawdust, wood chips, and rice hull; inorganic materials such as sand; and processed materials such as shredded newspaper, for example. In operations of this type, the birds leave their droppings on the litter, which in turn absorbs most of the liquid content of the litter and adheres to the solid litter. Once the birds are removed from the poultry house, the clumped or caked portion of the soiled litter may then be removed from the poultry house and has generally been spread on farm land as a fertilizer, while the rest of the soiled litter may be left in the poultry house to be available for the next flock.
A problem associated with the processing of soiled litter arises when the litter is mixed with water, as a result of cleaning out of the poultry house, and/or from use of the soiled litter as a fertilizer. Specifically, the water exposed to the litter may become contaminated and become a threat to streams, lakes, or underground water supplies, and may ultimately contaminate the drinking supply. Government agencies in areas of the United States having significant poultry operations have recognized the dangers to the clean water supply. It has become recognized, for example, that soiled litter entering streams and lakes results in growth of organisms that attack and destroy fish in the streams and which may even attack other animals and/or humans, causing severe illness.
Soiled litter, in this type of operation, therefore often represents an expense and pollution liability rather than a marketable fertilizer product. For growers that are unable to simply pile up poultry litter, the only option is to transport the litter to an acceptable location for dumping or other type of disposal. This, of course, incurs additional handling and transportation costs that may affect the commercial viability of the poultry operation.
There is a need, therefore, for an apparatus and related methods that address the problems discussed above.